{"id":220832,"date":"2025-10-23T18:01:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/220832\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T18:01:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T18:01:13","slug":"how-vr-is-helping-people-see-the-life-saving-power-of-vaccines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/220832\/","title":{"rendered":"How VR is helping people see the life-saving power of vaccines"},"content":{"rendered":"

A US company backed by the Gates Foundation is using virtual reality to show how vaccines save lives \u2013 from the Congo to classrooms across America. On World Polio Day, the team behind this innovative technology explains why<\/p>\n

When Brian Skalak describes his work, he doesn\u2019t talk about computer code or camera rigs. He talks about people \u2013 the health workers ferrying boxes of fragile vaccines across flooded roads and rivers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the communities waiting in remote villages for protection from polio, and the decision-makers in donor countries, thousands of miles away who are reminded, through virtual reality, what it takes to reach every child with life-saving vaccines.<\/p>\n

Skalak is the director of engagement at REM5 STUDIOS<\/a>, a Minnesota-based production company that\u2019s redefining how global health stories are told. In partnership with the Gates Foundation<\/a>, Rotary international and other members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative<\/a> (GPEI), his team has developed a series of immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences that bring viewers face-to-face with the realities of vaccine delivery.<\/p>\n

Their latest project, Apporter La Vie \u2013 meaning Delivering Life \u2013 takes audiences deep into the DRC, following frontline worker Kasongo as he transports vaccines through sweltering heat, torrential rain, and hundreds of kilometres of inland waterways. It\u2019s a journey few outsiders ever see, yet one that underpins the global mission to eradicate polio and expand immunisation to all children.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is close the distance,\u201d says Skalak. \u201cWe bring people there so they can really see what\u2019s happening and why it matters. If you\u2019ve only got ten minutes to show someone what the frontline looks like, VR can create that emotional connection instantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apporter La Vie builds on the success of REM5\u2019s earlier experience, Polio\u2019s Last Mile, which premiered in 2024, featuring teams of dedicated healthcare workers in Zambia, and went on to reach more than 11,000 global health leaders, policymakers, and advocates at over 20 major events worldwide. Together, the two projects form an ongoing effort to use emerging technology as a bridge between the people funding vaccine campaigns and those delivering them.<\/p>\n

Filmed using ultra-high-definition immersive cameras, the VR experience allows the viewer to follow Kasongo\u2019s team as they pack vaccine coolers, traverse washed-out roads and rivers, and navigate local customs in their effort to maintain the so-called \u201ccold chain\u201d \u2013 the carefully monitored refrigeration process that keeps vaccines viable.<\/p>\n

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\n REM5 STUDIOS have partnered with the Gates Foundation and other members of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) to develop a series of immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences that bring viewers face-to-face with the realities of vaccine delivery\n <\/p>\n

In the headset, users can look around freely, hear the sounds of children playing in distant villages, and watch health workers balancing vaccine crates on small wooden boats. \u201cIt\u2019s about presence, not novelty,\u201d says REM5\u2019s CEO, Amir Berenjian. \u201cYou can read about the polio eradication effort, or watch a video \u2013 but in VR, you feel it. You\u2019re right there beside the people doing the work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Gates Foundation, one of the largest funders of vaccine initiatives worldwide, supported both Apporter La Vie and Polio\u2019s Last Mile. Amber Zeddies, the foundation\u2019s Senior Programme Officer for Polio Advocacy and Communications, described the project as \u201ca powerful storytelling tool that restores urgency, proximity and human clarity to a mission that cannot afford to be forgotten \u2013\u00a0ending polio once and for all\u201d.<\/p>\n

The timing is crucial. In the United States, public trust in vaccines has fallen sharply in recent years. Misinformation spread during the pandemic has led to pockets of vaccine hesitancy that threaten not only progress against Covid-19 but also the protection offered by long-standing childhood immunisations.<\/p>\n

VR isn\u2019t just about visuals \u2013 it\u2019s about empathy. It helps people connect to stories they might otherwise never encounter<\/p>\n

For Skalak, that makes the mission of Apporter La Vie more relevant than ever. \u201cIn a world where people are increasingly skeptical of science, showing the human impact of vaccines is vital,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen you see the faces of families in the Congo who walk for hours just to reach a clinic, you understand what\u2019s at stake.\u201d<\/p>\n

Until now, REM5\u2019s VR headsets have traveled primarily to global health and policy events \u2013 from the US to Japan, and Egypt to India \u2013 where they\u2019ve introduced thousands of first-time users to immersive storytelling. In surveys, 90% of participants reported an increased commitment to immunisation after watching.<\/p>\n

But the studio\u2019s next step is to bring that experience closer to home. REM5 STUDIOS, with support from the Gates Foundation, is now making the technology available domestically in the US. Anyone with a headset can download a free app onto their device and can experience the global fight against preventable diseases. Working in community groups,\u00a0 schools and Rotary clubs will help expand that reach.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople think VR is just for gaming,\u201d says Skalak. \u201cBut we\u2019re using it for something completely different. We\u2019ve had grandmothers and six-year-olds try it for the first time, and both walk away saying, \u2018Now I get it\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Apporter La Vie app is available free to anyone with a Meta Quest 2 or 3 headset, and the team have recently built it out natively for the Apple Vision Pro. They\u2019re also working with educators to build curriculum content around the experience, and in discussion with science museums about potential exhibits.<\/p>\n

The response from audiences has been profound. At one Rotary convention, a polio survivor queued twice to experience the VR journey, moved by its portrayal of the effort that continues to protect others from the disease that changed his life. \u201cThose moments remind us why we do this,\u201d says Skalak. \u201cVR isn\u2019t just about visuals \u2013 it\u2019s about empathy. It helps people connect to stories they might otherwise never encounter.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n The response from audiences has been profound. One polio survivor queued twice to experience the VR journey, moved by its portrayal of the effort that continues to protect others from the disease that changed his life\n <\/p>\n

That empathy is translating into real-world impact. Saudi Arabia recently pledged $500m to the global polio eradication effort, and while such decisions aren\u2019t driven by a single event, projects like Apporter La Vie play a part in sustaining attention and inspiring action among policymakers and philanthropists.<\/p>\n

REM5 is now exploring how the same technology can be applied to other health and humanitarian causes \u2013 from cancer awareness with the American Cancer Society to storytelling for the Salvation Army. \u201cIt\u2019s the next generation of advocacy,\u201d Skalak says. \u201cIf we can show people what\u2019s happening, we can change how they feel \u2013 and when you change how people feel, you can change what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a time when public debate around science and health has become polarised, REM5\u2019s approach offers something quietly radical: a way to see, rather than be told. The landscapes may be virtual, but the impact is real.<\/p>\n

For Skalak, it\u2019s about harnessing technology to remind us of our shared humanity. \u201cWe all want healthy kids, strong communities, and a fair shot at life,\u201d he says. \u201cIf a headset can help someone understand that vaccines are part of that story, then it\u2019s done its job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photography by REM5 Studios<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A US company backed by the Gates Foundation is using virtual reality to show how vaccines save lives…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220833,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-220832","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}